


Searching for Dorian Gray

by Krisss66



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Krory's Flowers, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Gore, No crack, Yullen, Yullen Later, allenxkanda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 22:29:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4155375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krisss66/pseuds/Krisss66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanda, Lavi, Lenalee, and Toma the Finder go to a snowy forest to search for Cross. Instead they find our favorite white haired exorcist. With him as their main lead they search for Cross. Not even sure if they will find him, the four become VERY emotionally invested in the hunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Boy in a Mask](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/121668) by Tsukiko K. 



> Hey! This is my first long work, so bare with me. Just an obvious F.Y.I.: I do not own DGM. I also would like to give credit to the one who gave me the idea to write this. Tsukiko K. You should go and check it out on fanfiction.net. It's called The Boy in a Mask. 
> 
> Also for those of you wondering, Dorian Gray is who is thought to be what D.Gray Man is named after. It's a personal theory, but I also think he's who Cross is based off of.

The three friends sat on the couch that was placed in front of the large paper filled desk. Behind the desk and endless papers was a strange Chinese man with dark hair and a Barrett. His sister noticed how much more serious the chief was than usual. 

"Apparently, there is a village in Northern Germany that has asked for our help. "

"Wait. They asked for us?"

Two of the three listeners leaned forward as Lenalee asked the question. Kanda just gave his usual 'Che' and shut his eyes, trying and succeeding in hiding his curiosity. The ever insane Komui simply nodded to the three and continued. 

"Yes. They recognized the Rose Cross...from seeing it on General Cross Marian. "

The interest of all three were peaked. Seeing as not many even knew of their organization they had never been asked to go somewhere. Now Lenalee knew why her brother was so serious. Not only were they recognized, but Cross had been sighted and that in of itself had not been done in four years. 

"The people of this village haven't been able to get very far into the forest that borders them. In fact , no one has even seen the center in four years. Since Cross left. Not only that, but they tell us that they had seen him multiple times during that period. We suspect that he is the one that is keeping the villagers from going in. I want the three of you to go in and see if you can find anything. "

In an hour's time, five people were standing in a long tunnel preparing to board a small boat. Lavi, Kanda, and Toma the finder were already on board waiting for their fellow. Lenalee, however, was battling with her brother. He was trying desperately to hug her and warn her of Cross's tendencies. When she finally did wrestle out his grasp, she quickly seated herself in the boat and he called out to her one last time," Now you be careful. If you do find Cross, he may have unknown innocence on him. Approach with caution!"

And with that, the four departed to go and search for the impossibly hard to find man. 

*********

Kanda sat across from his least favorite person and the one of the people that he could actually tolerate. They made for an odd pair: Lavi and Lenalee. For brief second Kanda wondered if they could make a couple eventually. He soon rid himself of that train of thought. No one in the order had time for that and if they did than they weren't doing their job. And besides , Kanda just didn't care. 

 

That morning the three- four including Toma- yawned themselves out of bed. They were going to find that man, Clive, that would show them around the forest. They would ask around afterwards but that was the only day that he could show them because he was leaving town " I can't stay anywhere near that forest anymore!" he had told them. Well at least they weren't the only ones that thought the forest was strange.  
They did meet Clive. He looked like....what's a polite way to say 'crazy'? His hair was disheveled and his clothes were even worse. It was as if he had just made it out of the forest after being stuck in it for years without any human interaction. His blond hair was almost too blond and didn't match his red beard. His eyes had dark bags and were bloodshot. He was tall, almost taller than Kanda, but he hunched his back so much that he was shorter. And his voice cracked when he spoke. Lenalee feared for their safety. 

"We must be careful. HE will know the second we enter the forest. " 

The four sweatdropped. Clive's eyes darted around as he spoke, as if he was afraid of being watched. 

The now five travelers entered the forest. They did take caution with what they did. They could all feel the tension in the air. The forest tingles with anticipation and they all knew that the hermit's fear of being spied on was not unfounded. 

Cued by some unseen landmark, their eccentric guide stopped and said, " We are getting into HIS territory. DO NOT touch anything. From this point on, these are HIS trees. "

They restarted their journey. Not even half an hour into it, however, Kanda got an uneasy feeling. Something wanted them gone. Kanda warned the others to be on the look out, but before he could finish speaking the area around them came alive. Tree branches came down and swung at their heads. Roots pulled themselves out of the ground to grab hold of the exorcists and tie them down. 

Toma reached Clive and pulled him to the side, out of the fight. Lenalee was furiously kicking and creating small cyclones, batting away the endless army of trees. Kanda had already unsheathed Mugen and was slicing everything within reach. Lavi's hammer was out of the holster but before he could use it, a stubborn branch stole it and it vanished into the dark woods. In the end, it was Kanda that destroyed the most trees and ended the onslaught.  
" Great. Now we have to find my hammer. "

Lavi uttered the words under his breath but everybody heard them clearly. 

“Che. You should keep a better hold on your innocence, you damn rabbit.”

 

“Be nice, Yuu. We were just being attacked by KILLER TRE….”

Lavi was cut off by a new presence. It was a man in the newly formed clearing. He was short, very short, but had long red hair and a mask, just like Cross was described. His mask covered the left and top half of his face, revealing only his mouth, which was pursed in a frown, and a right cheek. Beneath what looked like endless red hair, was a white cloak. They had thought that he would wear his General’s uniform, since it was still an important tool for an accommodator of innocence, but the white cloak that helped hide him in the snowy environment seemed practical, now that Kanda thought about it. 

His mask did seem strangely plain. It was just simply a white piece of porcelain, no straps, but instead perfectly molded to his face. And it had no patterns on it, just a blank sheet. Kanda thought it made him look like a ghost, with the white cloak and pale skin, and then the hair stood out with all white, like blood. 

It was Lenalee who spoke next, being the friendliest and the only one who's actually met the general for a certain amount of time. 

“General? General Cross Marian? We are Exorcists…”

She too was stopped short as the man disappeared into the white woods. He seemed mysterious to say the least. He just appeared, then disappeared, not even saying a word or acknowledging their presence. Kanda thought that he was extremely rude and would like to cut him in two with Mugen, then shave off that precious red hair and sell it someone who needs it more. 

“Che. He’s gone”

 

Kanda sheathed Mugen and Lenalee deactivated her innocence. They turned around to see Toma having a hard time trying to control Clive. he was writhing around, desperately trying to get away from the scene of the fight. He looked frantic and they could see tears flowing down his face. 

“You better hope he’s gone! He’s going to kill us! One by one! We’re all going to die if we don’t get out of here!”

And with those words he finally made it free of the Finder’s grasp and ran for it, leaving them all behind. While Lenalee and Toma worried how they were going to get out without a guide to stop them from getting lost, Kanda inspected the spot that Cross had been. There was a faint smell, one that seemed so sweet, it had to be poisoned. It was a dangerous smell, one of death and disease. He could tell that Lavi, too, was examining the scent. He was more observant than one would think, he probably already knew the path they had taken and would be able to lead them out of the forest. Kanda didn’t mention this fact, however, it was unimportant and if the kid wanted everyone to know he would say something. 

Crazy Clive was right. Cross was aware that they were there. Around every turn was more killer plants. Of all kinds. Eventually, it was entirely up to Kanda to get them out of each situation. Each time, the plants would try to beat them up, then tie them down. And each time, he would smell the same scent from before. He soon stopped looking for it, around the time that he realized that all the animated flora reeked of it. Kanda grew to hate that smell.

At every obstacle, Toma would retreat behind the line of fire, out of range of the deadly plants. He didn’t talk much, which is why he was one of Kanda’s favorite Finders, but when he did he was polite and succinct. Toma never swore, until he let one rather loudly escape, calling the attention of the three Exorcists. 

“Shit!”

They all looked back to see a disgruntled Toma on the snowy ground as if he had just fallen. Lavi walked towards him and took a grip on his hand to pull him back up.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. What happened?”

Toma looked around, searching for answers.

 

“I’m not entirely sure. It felt like I ran into something.”

Now all three of them were concerned. Well..two and one was mildly annoyed.

“..But there’s nothing here.” He finished his thought, trailing off to further thing about the problem. As he did, he took a few steps forward, only to smack into something again. This time it was less violent, only pushing him back a few steps. But the question was still there. Why could he not walk through when no one else had any problems?

 

“Maybe it's because you three have innocence and I don’t?” He asked

“But mine was taken from me. I shouldn’t be able to cross either.”

The two conversing looked at each other with apprehension as Lenalee just watched. To everyone’s shock, and then horror, Kanda was the one to speak next.

“Maybe it’s because he only wants us for something? So he’s only going to let us in.”

He saw Lavi pale and almost smirked. They all knew he was right, but none wanted to admit it, not wanting to think about why the mysterious and notorious flirt wanted with them.

“Why do you think he would want us?” Lenalee asked, obvious concern.

“Don’t know. We’ll find out, though.”

Lavi turned to the finder that had accompanied them all that way and said,” Kanda’s right. We gotta go. You should stay here or outside the forest until we return. We will come back for you, but make sure to call HQ and tell them what happened.”

Toma nodded in assent. The two groups turned from each other, one to go deeper out into the forest, and the other to get out of it. 

The three exorcists walked light footed, trying their best to not make a sound in the thick snow. There was no more witty banter or conversation. The tension was tangible. It got thicker with every step.

Finally, they came across a thick wall of shrubs and bushes. It seemed impenetrable. Lenalee swiftly knocked it down with a single kick, clearing a path. They all stared at what they saw through the hole. It was a small cottage, more like hut. It was brown and blended in with the trees. Plants grew all on the walls and snow was heavy on the roof. It looked abandoned, but it was the closest thing to a lead they had. 

They approached the strange building with caution. 

“What do you think it is?” Lavi asked, already knowing what his friend would say. 

“I bet its the dump that that man, Cross, lives in.” Yep. Lavi was right. 

“Well, come one, you two. Let’s go check it out.”

Lenalee pushed her way through the two males and took the lead. Lavi gave her a look that Kanda didn't miss. He just ignored it. 

They reached the house and sheepishly pressed the door knob. It didn't budge or even turn. Upon closer inspection they could see that the knob wasn't even on a door, a few pieces of wood made to look like a door. Kanda wrinkled his nose, smelling the stench again, but far stronger than before. They looked at each other, knowing that they had just fallen for a trap , when the whole world went black. 

*******************************

The white haired boy looked at the three laying there unconscious. He didn’t know why he had shown himself in the first place. It could have had something to do with the fact that they had been wearing coats similar to that of his master’s. He wanted to find out who they were and why they were there, but was afraid to tell them who he was. Now he was wondering if maybe he shouldn’t have led them straight to the house. They had killed so many of his master’s flowers. Though, that was the reason that his master left them, was to use as a shield for the hut, and to alert him to the presence of any villagers. Every now and then there was the odd and stupid one that refused to leave after months of constant beatings from the plants. Those were the ones that when they did leave, told everyone they could find about the forest, starting rumors and attracting unwanted attention from other outsiders. But now he had these three. The only three who had ever been able to get passed them. He held the strange little hammer in one hand. He could recognize it as a weapon, but couldn’t see how. It was so small.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two long Chapters in a row. Sorry about being inconsistent. But I really can't tell you an average chapter length or how often I'll update, it really just depends on how the mood its me, but I'll try to just post as often as I can, if anyone has problems with this let me know and I'll try to consider everyone. I aim to please!
> 
> Also, at this point, it still follows Tsukiko K's work pretty closely, so I'd like to give her the credit still. And its a shame because I also have to say that, no, I do not own D.Gray-Man, despite what my manager says.

Kanda awoke with a groan. His shoulders were killing him and he felt like the dead. When he was fully aware of his surroundings he realized that he was tied by his wrists to the ceiling, toes barely touching the ground. He was relieved to see that he had all of his cloths, but started to panic again when he couldn’t find Mugen anywhere in the room, which didn’t surprise him at all. What did surprise him was the state of his friends. Lavi was tied similarly to him, also from the ceiling to his left. His head rested on his shoulders, showing Kanda that he was still unconscious. Lenalee was on the other side of the room, sitting in a chair, tied to the back. He legs were tied together with chains and not just rope. It also looked like her boots had been taken off and were no where to be seen.

The room itself was plain. Kanda guessed that this was the inside of the building they had seen before. It looked like a normal living room, but not as homey. All the essentials were there; a rolled up futon, a small fireplace for cooking, a small bag that must of had clothes, and a strange potted plant that reminded Kanda of a venus fly trap. That was when he smelled it. The perfume from the forest. The flower radiated it. It obviously came from the strange thing and Kanda didn’t want to be anywhere near it. The plant seemed to have other ideas, however. It opened its mouth and reached out to Kanda’s direction. He squirmed in his bindings, trying to get away from it.

“Stop. Get the fuck away you little piece of shit.”

He growled at it, threatening. The violent approach didn’t seem to take effect. In fact, instead of deterring the plant, it seemed to spur it on. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp, dangerous looking teeth. A strange purple mist slowly started to seep out as it got closer to Kanda, preparing to bite him. Kanda tried to kick it with his feet, finding to his dismay, that his feet were also secured to the floor, restricting his movements even more. He growled at the flower, trying to dissuade it from coming closer. It tensed, mere inches from Kanda’s skin, when it stopped suddenly. What stopped it was a voice. A beautifully musical voice.

“Rosanne.”

The one word seemed enough to stop the flower. Both Kanda and the sentient flora looked at the speaker. It was Cross. Or the man they thought was Cross. Now with a closer perspective, Kanda could see that it was a kid. And a kid with white hair, not red. His appearence of being a redhead came from the hood of the cloak, which had red tuffs of fur to help him keep warm in the winter, which it was. But more than that, the kid looked young, which might explain the height. He was SHORT!

The presence of another seemed to wake Lavi and Lenalee. They stirred and joined Kanda in staring at the stranger, after taking their turns examining the room and testing their binds.

“Who are you?” Kanda growled, already fed up with the whole situation.

“That is my question. Who are you? What do you want?”

Despite the show of confidence, Kanda thought that he sounded unsure, and maybe even a little afraid. Even though he was in this creepy forest with that strange flower and wore that suspicious mask, Kanda didn’t think he had the nerve to be a cold hearted killer, or to do lasting damage to them. That and the mission were the only things that Kanda cared about at the time.

Lenalee saw this too, but she knew that Kanda would reply with hostility and used quick thinking to stop him.

“We are Exorcists of the Black Order. We mean no harm, we just want to know if you have seen a man by the name of General Cross Marian.”

Lavi congratulated Lenalee in his head for finding a way to stop Kanda from talking. If Kanda had scared the timid kid away with his hostility then all hopes of finding Cross would vanish.

“You’re looking…..for Cross?”

Lavi and Lenalee nodded while Kanda glowered at the plant which was then taking refuge behind the strange masked boy.

“You missed him. He hasn’t been here….in a while.”

The boy was flat out sheepish. All previous confidence and authority, false or otherwise, was gone. It was clear that he was uncomfortable in their presence, but he knew where Cross was and that was important.

“Where is he now?”

Lavi looked at him, awkwardly straining his neck. The boy saw this and used it as an excuse to not answer the question.

“I’m sorry about the whole...tying you up thing. But I still don’t know if I can trust you. You did come into MY home and kill MY flowers.”

“The flowers that tried to kill us first?”

Kanda growled, earning him a glare from both Lenalee and Lavi, though they knew he was right. They all knew that the flowers were placed there to be destroyed, they were the guard dogs. But that didn’t matter, what mattered was getting that strange kid to talk to them about Cross.

“Look. We’re sorry about your flowers. But we need to find Cross. There were reports of him staying here over the past few years. If you know anything, anything at all……”

Lenalee trailed off as she tried to read the face under the mask. All she could see was a frown and a right cheek, and now that they were closer, she could also see deep grey silver eyes which seemed endlessly sad to her.

“What do you want with Master Cross?”

It wasn’t an answer to their question, but it was something, and they took a hold of that something and ran with it, more specifically, Lavi ran with it.

“We come from the same organization. We lost contact with him four years ago and Central needs to find him because he may have unknown Innocence on him. We were sent here to find Cross and any accommodators he may have found during the four year gap. Then we are to take both him and the accommodators back to the order, should there be any.”

Lavi grinned like an idiot as they all watched the boy that literally held the keys to their freedom. The boy, however, was purposefully NOT looking at any of them, instead, choosing to closely inspect his plant and clutch at his left arm.

“Master talked about the Order on occasion. Not much...just a few words every now and then. But never anything good. “

Lavi listened to the words, and then paled.

“Master?....as in...Teacher? Are you an Accommodator?”

He gave no answer, just another question, but that one question was enough to tell them all they needed to know.

“Are you..going to take me away?”

He sounded sad. Lavi, now solemn, said,” We must. All accommodators of Innocence must go to the Black Order to become Exorcists. I’m sorry.”

He cursed as soon as he said it. If it upset the kid he might never let them down, and that meant that he didn’t trust them. Not having his trust would make their job a hell of a lot harder.

****************

The fifteen year old pondered what the strange redheaded one had said. For a second he thought about how much that red hair reminded him of Cross. And then how much he hated the color red.

But he had now had a choice to make. Go with them, or stay there. His master had always told him that he would have to go to the Black Order, but when he did it was always drunk and with a hatred to the organization. The combination of these and the fact that he had never seen the Order had led him to believe that that day would never come. So he grew to love his life alone in the forest. It was just him and the flowers that his master had told him to take care of. There were no angry villagers to curse and try to kill him. No one to yell at him or try to steal his food. He never starved or had to worry about his next meal. He was happy. And now he was being asked to leave his home for the past four years.

“No.”

He had said the word out loud, though he meant to think it. That didn’t mean he didn’t mean it. He did. He wasn’t going to leave his forest. Who were they to tell him that he had to go with them to this Order that the only things he had ever heard about were bad. He knew that they were going to treat him like trash there. That was what Cross had always made sure to tell him. It wasn’t a family. It was a prison. He refused to go to prison.

Now with a sudden burst of conviction he strode over to the girl. He had been watching them. He knew that she was the calmest of the three and the gentlest. He also knew that she fought predominantly with her legs, so her upper body was weak. It would be enough he undid the ropes around her wrists then left her to work her way through to her legs. Then she could untie her friends and find their weapons in the bags in the corner. By that time, he would be gone. He didn’t know where he would go, but he would leave these people and hope that they didn’t follow him.

***************

They had watched him think about what Lavi had said. They hoped that he would come along willingly, but all hopes were crushed when he said one word aloud.

“No.”

Lavi cursed himself for being so stupid. Now he wasn’t going to trust them and they may have to hurt him. It was never pretty when an accommodator refused to go along, Lenalee knew this the best.

She tried to reason with him. Tell him that it wouldn’t be pretty if he refused. That they would have to take him by force if he didn’t along with them, and no one wanted that. But it didn’t seem like he was listening, or even that he could hear her. Instead he just walked over to where he had Lenalee tied up and cut loose her wrists. The action startled them. He denied them and then set them free. Didn’t he know that if he said no, they would have to fight him. But then he left. More like vanished. He was so fast, he just suddenly wasn’t there.

That’s when they realized what he had done. He had cut Lenalee loose just enough so that she could free them all, but not so much that she could do anything else, and by the time they were all free, then it would be too late.

The three Exorcists exchanged looks. Lavi looked at Lenalee and said,” Just get yourself free. See if you can find your boots. Then go after him. We can get ourselves down.”

She looked at him with concern. His position didn’t seem all that comfortable, and neither did Kanda’s for that matter. But she knew that she was the fastest and would be most suited to finding him on her own, so she went along with it. She searched the bags on the floor and quickly found her precious innocence. She fitted herself with her boots and activated them. She decided to help the boys a little, and kicked the ties at the top away. They fell to the ground with painful relief as she flew out in pursuit of the masked white hair boy.

***************************

He had no idea where he was going. As much as he liked to brag about that forest being his home, he had abysmal senses of direction and would easily get lost if he was panicked, just like than. And to make matters worse, the girl that he had untied had apparently left her companions behind and had found her weapon quicker than he had thought. And she was quicker than he thought. She was flying after him, quickly gaining ground. It seemed that he boots granted her extra speed and not just extra strength. It was when round disks appeared on her ankles and she literally started flying that he forced himself to just go in a straight line as fast as he could.

He took off his hood and became completely white, blending in with the snow of his surroundings. He used that as an opportunity to lose the girl. He commanded nearby flowers to attack the girl and to bring up as much snow as possible to create cover, hiding him from sight. Using that he found a better hiding place behind a rock that he could use until the girl passed. He had to hurry because she was much stronger than he thought she was and all his plants were dead in that area. Secretly, he was pleased, the weapons of his childhood torment were dying off one by one, thanks to these invaders.

***************************

Lenalee had dealt with the plants using a cyclone. She had already had to activate to Level Two and by now had surely lost him. She scanned the surrounding area but couldn’t find a trace. Somewhere behind her, she heard the approach of an oncoming Lavi and Kanda, on a hammer. Looking back, she saw them. Both seemed to stay balanced on the device perfectly and Lenalee almost laughed. She had never seen Kanda using it like that before. He seemed so disheveled and almost insulted that he had to. She thought of the effect that the Order has had on them, all three of them. They were alright, right? Sure they’ve been through tough times, but nothing too scarring? But she couldn’t keep fooling herself. She knew that they would never be the same, even if they could joke now. And now they were having to do that to another person. It was like they were killing him. Killing him by bringing him into their war. But their war has already chosen him, by making him an accommodator, and so no one had a choice but to go along with it, even if they didn’t like it.

Lavi and Kanda jumped down from the handle of the hammer and it shrunk down to size. Lavi approached her saying,”Maybe he went to the village by the forest. If not than we can still ask around about him. We might even find out more about Cross.”

She nodded, not really wanting to find the small, timid teenager. Her fellow Exorcists shared her sentiment.

“Not only that, but we forgot about Toma.”

*****************

 

They did go to the town after finding Toma. He had already asked around about Cross, and nothing new has come up. He didn’t ask about a boy, he didn’t even know he was there. So the three decided to split up, while Toma went back to the inn to check up with HQ.

The only one that had any luck was Lenalee. She had found one woman who was caring for her grandmother, she looked no older than Lenalee herself, but she told her what she knew.

“I can’t say I’ve heard of a white haired boy. I know that there was a boy a few years ago that was around this area that was a bit odd. They say he had a cursed left arm and was sent by the devil. These days, if you talk to anyone about him they just clam up, but I wasn’t old enough to care about that stuff so I just got what my grandmother told, but from what I can tell, something happened and it wasn’t pretty.”

Lenalee thanked her for the information, not sure how useful it would be. She wasn’t sure if the whitette’s hand had been cursed, mainly because she couldn’t see it, but the girl had said that she had never heard of a white haired boy before.

But the girl was right about one thing: no one wanted to talk about the little boy with the strange left hand. Hardly anyone would even recognize her presence after she mentioned it and they all gave her strange looks. She almost wanted to say that they looked guilty, but there was something else beneath it. She found out why from the Inn Keeper, the only person willing to speak with her by the end of the day.

It was just after dinner. Kanda had gone off to meditate and Lavi was doing something for Bookman, but Lenalee was left with the kindly old woman and her son who ran the inn. Since they were the only other guests, Lenalee decided to help her clean up. This was how the conversation got started. But once it did, Lenalee wasn’t sure if she regretted it or not.

“So...I heard in town about a little boy a few years ago. One who had bizarre arm?”

It was a question. The Inn keeper heard it and sent her son to bed so that he wouldn’t hear what was said.

“Don’t know who you talked to, who would talk about that.”

“But what happened? To the boy? And who was he?”

The woman sighed. She could tell that this girl meant no harm, and that this was important to her mission, so she decided to tell her.

“I think it happened 7 or so years ago. It was before James was born. Parently, the boy was born with a deformed arm. It looked all red, like something dragged out the pits o’ hell. I’m not sure where he came from, but none of the villagers would take him in. He was just 8 or 9. But everyone was afraid of the poor boy’s arm. I couldn’t do anything to help, or risk my business, so all I did was watch from the sidelines. But it was cruel and wrong. They cut ‘im up and beat ‘im, but he was tough. So they decided to just be rid of ‘im completely. They tied him up to a stake and built a pyre. Like a witch, they were going to burn ‘im alive.They almost succeeded. Don’t know how, but the boy managed to get away. He left afta that. Can’t say I blame ‘im either. “

Lenalee listened to the tale with ever growing eyes. She couldn’t believe that a boy of just 8 had survived through all of that. She couldn’t help but have a feeling that this was the boy they were looking for. She decided to go and get her teammates. It was late and getting dark, but they had to come up with some kind of plan. They had to find him the next day. Before she could get out of the room to go and find Kanda, though, she heard a loud crash, coming from the forest.

**********************

The three rushed to the scene. Dark figures were floating above the forest, they clouded the sky like a cloud. Akuma. All three activated their innocence and flew into action. Just as they did, another figure joined them. One dressed in all white, save for a red hood that was now resting on his back.

This confirmed their suspicions that he was an accommodator, though at this point they weren’t mere suspicions.

The three put it out of their heads for the time being, satisfied to just watch and observe how he fought. Even Kanda had to admit that he fought well. He had turned his left arm into a giant silver claw. They could also see that it had other forms ,too. He could also turn it into a gun-like weapon and a sort of…..light sabre?

Soon, all the Akuma were dead. And Kanda, Lavi , and Lenalee deactivated. They jumped towards the boy, intent on stopping him from running away, but he seemed to be yelling something at them. They stared at him for a second, and then realized that he was telling them to look behind them. They turned too late, taken by surprise by the level three behind them. Before they could get out of the way, it shot something at them. Out of no where, the boy appeared, taking the hit. It tore right through his stomach, pushing blood from the wound and his mouth. It spread over his white cloak and he sank to the ground. The other exorcists were spurred into motion. They quickly killed the akuma and rushed to his aid. They had to get to a hospital fast.

Slowly, Red’s world went black. _That’s my name?....Right? Mana?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about OOC Allen, but I think that he should be that way at first, he wasn't exactly treated the best in his childhood and then only had Cross as an example so, his people skills are a little rusty. Also, those worried about Timcanpy, he's going to come in the next chapter, hopefully. Please R&R, I'll read all of your questions, comments, and ugly remarks, just as long as they're funny. 
> 
> If you have any requests for the story line just tell me, its pretty open right now.


	3. Chapter 3

**  
  
**

CHAPTER 3

Three days. He had been at the Order for three days and he hadn’t woken up once. Lenalee and Kanda had packed up everything that they could from the small house that the whitette had called home, while Lavi made arrangements to have the sleeping boy transported to HQ. It was a good thing ,at first, that he had slept the entire time. He couldn’t tell them no, he couldn’t struggle or fight, and by the time he would wake up, he would already be at the Order, whether he liked it or not.

Now, Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda sat by his bed. They had to practically drag Kanda there. He thought it was silly to sit at the bedside of someone they barely knew, but he had done it, to get the fucking rabbit to shut up. Of course it didn’t stop him from trying to braid Kanda’s hair.

“Come on, Yuu~ It’ll help keep it from getting tangled.”

“Don’t call me that! You’re more of a nuisance than tangles!”

“Ow! Yuu~ Its not nice to use Mugen like that!”  
  


“Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

“Awww. Yuu~...”

Kanda said nothing that time, just lunged to kill. He was stopped mid-motion by movement out of the corner of his eye.

***************

_A little boy with red brown hair sat besides a rather large, funny looking clown. He was supposed to be funny looking, he was a clown. But was he supposed to be funny looking when sitting in front of a shallow grave?_

__

_“So, what was his name?” the boy asked._

__

_The clown looked at the boy, considering him before he answered._

“Come one, Yuu~”

Red heard the voice as if it was far away. He wondered who “Yuu” was. But then he stopped. Light was streaming in through his closed eyes. His mind worked faster and faster. He inspected his earlier thought. Something was wrong with it. But he couldn’t think of what it was. He opened his eyes, blinded by the pure white light. White. Ahhhh….that’s what it was.

The whole room was white. He could recognize it as an infirmary of some kind. Beds lined the walls on both sides and three people sat on the nearest one. They were all looking at him and he blushed, not used to the attention or the company. He wondered where he was, then was stopped by a thought.

His hand rose to his face, testing to see if the cold mask was still in place. He felt his hand make contact with the cold, white material.

“ We didn’t take it off.”

He looked at the speaker and saw that it was one with a long blue pony tail. He was surprised that it was the hostile looking girl- I mean guy- that had spoken first. But he continued to speak.

“The nurse did, but we weren’t there. They put it back on before we could come in.”

He muttered a soft thanks, then looked at his hands. Where was he? He didn’t like talking in front of them, but in that instance, it couldn’t be avoided.

“Where…..am I?”

The girl and the redhead ,that reminded him too much of his master , at least had some decency to look guilty and ashamed, whereas the japanese teen just looked...bored.

“You’re in the Black Order. We took you here after you got injured.”

He paled, though they probably couldn’t tell, him already being white as a sheet.

He was already away from his home. He had saved their lives with his eye, almost giving his, and they had taken him away. He felt lonely. What had become of his home? Just how far away was this Black Order from his village? The world suddenly felt immensely large, unbearably so, and he felt so alone in it.

He was awoken from his wonderings by a nudge on his arm. A strange gold ball appeared from his sleeve and looked as if he wanted to comfort the boy.

“Timcampy!”

He was shocked to see the small creature there.

“We found him in your house. He’s General Cross’s golem, right.”

The white head slowly nodded in assent to the green haired girl who had spoken.

“He gave him to me just before he...left.”

“And when was that?”  
  


He flinched at the harsh question from the man in the corner. It was an obvious grab for information, any that they could get on the man they were looking for, but he was not going to give it, not without knowing their intent.

“How about we start with something a little smaller? Say...a name?”

The youngest teen looked at the girl. He didn’t know what to tell her. Who was he, anyways? To them? Was he Red? or was he….? He wasn’t sure.

Kanda looked at the strange boy from the corner. He made a bizarre image. Pure white hair with skin just a few shades darker and a mask that hid most of his face. Just his lips and his eyes were visible. Lavi had wanted to get a look under the mask while he was unconscious, but Kanda had stopped him, asking him to respect his privacy, now curiosity burned within Kanda as he had to know what his face looked like. How hideous must it be to have to be hidden under a mask all the time? Maybe even worse than mine.

He mentally shook himself, setting himself to the current task at hand. He had a plan that might help them get what they wanted, but he was hesitant to do it in front of the rabbit, but when it came down to it, he had no choice.

“Names are powerful words, not to be given easily.” They all looked at Kanda who had just spoken, wondering where he was going with it.

“My name is Yuu Kanda. No one is allowed to call me that. I despise my given name and everyone calls me Kanda.”

Lenalee opened her mouth to speak. She was getting ready to introduce herself to the boy in their care, but was stopped as Kanda kept talking, surprising everyone in the room.

“You may call me….Yuu.”

He said the last word, defeated. Lenalee and Lavi, especially Lavi, gaped at him, stunned. He had just given someone permission to use his given name, something not even his own master was allowed to call him. And he was giving a near complete stranger permission. It was surreal.

To Kanda, it was annoying. He didn’t know why, but he had to know the kid’s name. If it didn’t work, then he would skin everyone alive. He glared at the kid, expectantly. The whitette seemed stunned, just staring at his mismatched hands. It didn’t seem to Kanda like he would talk anytime soon. Kanda ‘Che’d’ then spoke again.

“You know what, never mind, just call me..”

A soft voice interrupted him. He stared at the kid, unsure if he had actually heard him speak.

“What?” He asked, now impatient to know what had been said.

“Allen.” The boy didn’t stop scrutinizing his hands, but he spoke a little louder with each word.

“My name….it’s Allen...Walker. You can call me Allen.”

All three looked shocked. But Allen was somewhere else entirely.

When his father had died, Allen’s name being the last words he said, Allen shut them away forever. Not even Cross knew that his name was Allen. It was always either “boy”, “idiot apprentice”, or “Red”. They were insulting, but he put up with them, not wanting the words “Allen Walker” to reach the light of day. And now here he was, sitting in front of a smiling green haired girl that was saying,

”Hello Allen Walker, Welcome to the Black Order.”

He was moving again. Finally, after four years of standing still, Allen Walker was moving forward, just like he had promised. He didn’t have a destination, nor even a direction, but that didn’t matter. Allen Walker was walking, and he vowed that he would never stop again.

****************

Allen stared at his reflection like it was the devil himself. He was in his new room and since he was alone, had taken off the mask his master had made for him. The mask was pure white, without any patterns or decorations. It covered the top and left sides of his face. He always thought that the accessory was strange, but his master had told him that only beautiful things could be around him, and so he needed to hide his face.

He put the piece on and looked at the effect it had. The black exorcist coat contrasted with all the white and he thought he looked like some kind of ghost. He thought about the dark haired exorcist, Yuu Kanda. He had left the day before after Allen had told him his name, the others to introduce themselves. Lenalee Lee seemed nice, reliable. She was the go-to person for help with just about anything. Lavi, on the other hand, seemed loud and obnoxious, but not to be mistaken for annoying.  He had hoped that he could make friends with them.

Glancing around his room, he sighed. They had taken all of his stuff from his house and had brought it there. Whoever did it had done a good job too, not even forgetting Timcampy, who was then sitting on his shoulder. The little ball nudged him comfortingly. He was probably never going to see that place again. He loved it there and wanted to stay but had always known that he would end up at the Black Order, and so, he chose not to fight it anymore. He was an Exorcist. Whatever the hell that meant.

********************

Kanda, Lavi, and Lenalee sat facing each other in the cafeteria. They were waiting for Allen to make his first grand appearance. They were all looking around expectantly.

“So, what do you think of him?”  
  


Lenalee asked her friends, the question mainly directed to Lavi, yet it was Kanda that  answered first.

“He’s an annoying git.”

Lenalee looked at him, wondering if she should say what she wanted to, but Lavi spoke first.

“You sure, Yuu~? The way you were talking to him, I thought it might have been something else.”

Lavi was cut off by a glare from the samurai. The murderous intent radiating off of him as Lenalee pointed to a spot behind him.

“Hey! It’s Allen!”

The three stopped their conversation to look at the new arrival to the room. Lenalee’s outburst had brought all the attention of the surrounding Finders to the soon to be exorcist. They looked at him in his new coat and white mask. Lenalee was still sad that he didn’t trust them enough to show them his face, Kanda was just annoyed.

“Uhm...Hey.”

He said. Lenalee noticed with a pang that he said the last word softly and more to himself than anyone else. Well, they had just kidnapped him.

“Hey, buddy. We’re gonna get you some food, then you go to see Hevlaska. Kay?”

Allen looked at Lavi. He didn’t understand the last part, but the first words he knew very well. Food.

Lenalee and Lavi grinned at seeing his reaction to the mention of sustenance. Kanda simply “Che’d” and stalked off. Allen looked at his back wistfully.

“Umm. Yuu? I can still call you Yuu, right? I’m sorry.”

Kanda didn’t look at the kid, but he did stop. He heard the heavy tension in the younger’s voice and tried to ease it somewhat. It wasn’t so much that he was worried for the kid, just the mission.

“Che. I don’t care. Do what you want.”

Allen looked down at his clasped, gloved hands. He didn’t want to insult Kanda, or Yuu, or whatever his name was. He sheepishly looked at the dark haired man as he left the cafeteria. He had been given an answer to his question, but that didn’t mean that he knew what to do with it. Lavi saw the look of indecision in his frown.

“Don’t worry ‘bout him. He’s probably off to the training room or something. “

Allen looked at Lavi gratefully as he was dragged toward the line. They all watched in amazement as Allen ordered enough food to feed a small army. No one believed that he could actually eat all of it. But there he was, shovelling it all in. His hands moved so fast, transporting the food from his plate to his mouth with finess, not letting a single scrap fall or get on his clothes. Even his mask escaped unscathed of food. Now everyone knew why his mouth was the only thing visible through the mask; it was so he could eat.

After devouring more food than the average human could in a month, Allen thanked Jerry for the meal and left the hall with Lavi and Lenalee. As they left the room, Lavi heard a high, flamboyant voice call out his name. He motioned for his two companions to go on without him while he went to go and see what Jerry wanted with him.

“Ain’t he such a cutie?”

Lavi looked at the man, then saw where his attention was held. The purple haired man was looking right at Allen, leaning on the window sill that separated the hall from the kitchen. Lavi looked at him, expectantly,

“Sorry man, was there something you wanted? Or were you just going to talk to me about the kid?”

The cook looked at him, then turned around to continue making food.

“Both. I can tell that one has been through some deep stuff~”

Lavi nodded, still trying to figure out where this was going. The usually cheery man was unusually serious.

“I just wanted to make sure that you and that Kanda hottie aren’t gonna make that any worse.”

Understanding dawned on him. He looked at the man in a new light, wondering just what it was he saw in the whitette. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand how he was feeling, it seemed that everyone that met the boy felt a certain level of pity and concern.

Lavi nodded and rejoined the others. They toured him around the massive castle, showing him all the lounges and training rooms. He just followed behind them, still solemn. When they would speak to him, or ask him a question, all he would do was nod or say as little as possible. It was almost unnerving to the young Bookman. Not only was he concerned for Allen, but also Lenalee. She was already so worried for him, if he didn’t ease up on the lost boy act, she would break.

They came to the large metal elevator that would take them to Hevlaska. Lavi sweatdropped at the thought of how Allen would accept Hevlaska. She didn’t always make a good impression with the newer exorcists.

Allen hesitantly stepped on the vehicle, shooting Komui, the only other person on the device, glances that said he did not want to be there. He stopped his process when he noticed that neither Lavi nor Lenalee was following him. Despite what he made it seem, he did like the two. The crazy elder brother was a different story.

“Sorry, buddy, can’t go with you. It’ll just be you and the chief.”

Lenalee nodded in assent and Allen decided to take their words for it. He stood in the center of the elevator and waited until Komui had hit a few buttons and the large metal device started to fall downwards at an alarming rate. He felt his stomach clench with nerves. First he was chased by odd people with unknown intent, then he woke up in a strange place, and now he was plummeting to his death. Fun.

They slowed as they got closer to the bottom. Allen began to panic when a large insectile being materialized before him. He heard Komui say something to it, but he couldn’t comprehend the words. Blue luminescent tentacles came out of the being and made their to Allen, grabbing around the midriff. It lifted him off of the ground and he struggled to find some kind of security, protection, from the strange being.

_Do not fight me. I am not your enemy._

A voice could be heard. He swore under his breath and he was lifted higher, closer to her, he assumed it was a she, face. Despite what she said, he still struggled as he got closer to her face, though no eyes could be seen.

Their heads touched and he was blinded by a light. She started to list numbers, steadily increasing, but Allen couldn’t pay much attention as his arm began to throb.

_83% is the maximum synchro rate for this innocence at this time._

Allen gasped as he was lowered to the ground. His arm continued to pulse and burn as he fell to his knees upon touching the welcomed ground.

He absorbed the explanation given to him, about innocence and the god cube, and who Hevlaska was. He felt a light bubble of heat rise in his chest, recognizing the early hints of anger. The bubble expanded as he listened to prophecy about him. Who were they to decide his future for him? Why couldn’t he just clear his own path instead of following his ‘destiny’?

“Congrats kid, now we can actually trust you!”

**  
** _**Yes, but can I trust you?** _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Chapter 4. This started out as a single chapter, but it would've doubled the word count, so I split it into three. Sorry if they are kinda short and might end on cliffhangers, but I should update them faster. Unless I crash and burn from sudden laziness.

Allen sat nervously next to the irate samurai. They were sitting in a large paper-filled office that belonged to Komui. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with Mugen. He and Kanda were going to go on a mission together, his first since coming to the Order. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was glad to be with the older teen, but he knew that Kanda was not happy with the situation.

They received the files that told them of the mission they would go on. It was an innocence retrieval mission in the city of Mater. It sounded intriguing to Allen, the Ghost of Mater.A being that possessed innocence yet was not an accommodator. But really, what was the difference? What made this Ghost any different than him?

Allen and Kanda reached the boat they were meant to board. There, waiting for them, was a familiar Finder; Toma.

“Hello, Master Walker, Master Kanda.”

The ever-polite Finder greeted them with a wave of his hand. Komui watched the transaction from a distance, no longer wondering why Kanda had specifically asked for that Finder. He remembered that it was him that had went with them to find Allen, and therefore the one that he would trust the most. But this revelation left Komui with another question: did Kanda ask out of concern for the mission, or for the boy? He waved the thought away with a mental shake of his head. This was Kanda after all-of course it was for the mission.

Allen was simply grateful that he didn’t have to go with someone new. He liked Toma the Finder and found him easy to talk to. He didn’t ask about Allen’s history, or his mask, or any other odd quirks he no doubt had. He simply talked about the mission and other Black Order related topics. It gave Allen a refreshing relief from the stone cold Kanda.  Because that conversation did not go well.

Allen, Kanda, and Toma had somehow made it to the train shortly after it left the station. In order to do that, they had to do a death-defying stunt that the members of the Order liked to call “train jumping”.  They had practically flew over the down and jumped onto the moving roof of the train. Apparently, they did this sort of thing often, and Allen was not looking forward to future experiences. But , this time, they had made it safely on board and were now seated in the first class compartment.

Allen sat across from Kanda, while Toma sat outside. He kept shooting the long haired exorcist glances. The miniscule gestures did not go unnoticed.

“Che. What do you want?”

Allen flinched slightly when he realized he had been caught and decided to just say it.

“I don't know why you don't like your given name, but if you hate it that much, I won't call you  Yuu."

The question annoyed Kanda to no end. Didn’t he already answer this?

“You need to grow some spine, Moyashi, or else you’re not going to last a month. I already said I don’t care.”

“What the hell is a ‘Moyashi’?”

Kanda looked at the said beansprout. He actually saw a little emotion in the two dots that he could see through the eye-holes of the mask. A slight smirk pressed on his face as he continued.

“You. You’re a Moyashi.”

“But what does it mean?”

“Why should I tell you?”  
  


“Yuu!”

He was practically shouting now. There was a deep set frown on his face and his eyes shown with frustration, but it was real. Kanda decided he liked the way true emotion looked on the kid. In fact, he was so deep into thought that he didn’t realize he had called him ‘Yuu’. Nor did he realize that Toma had just poked his head in to tell them they were almost there.

After Toma had told them that they were thirty minutes out, Kanda had stalked out of the room. This left Allen with time to think. One word just would not leave him: Moyashi. Just what was a Moyashi. He knew that it had to be Japanese, like Kanda, but that didn’t tell him much. For all he knew it could mean “Freak”. Thinking back, it probably did mean “Freak”. That was what most people called him, after all. What would make Yuu Kanda any different.

Allen’s first mission turned out to be an easy one, even if it did put some strain on them. Allen had been able to easily take out the Level Two that seemed infatuated with him. That was not the first time that he had to deal with that level Akuma. The hard part was Kanda. He wanted to snatch the innocence right out of the doll’s head and be done with it, and Allen had half a mind to let him, just so they could get back to the Order quicker. But he didn’t. He felt pity for the doll named LaLa and her human companion. He felt that somehow they were the same. Both chosen by God to use Innocence, and then be abandoned by the humans they served. But Allen was a human, and that meant that he would have to collect the innocence and take it to its rightful accommodator. He hated the thought that he was practically killing her, but he stayed till the end and carried out the mission.

Kanda could not figure out Allen. He was an oddity to him. He was so weak willed, but wasn’t at the same time. He had an insane martyr complex, yet didn’t like to get close to others. He was so tiny, yet managed to infuriate Kanda everytime he opened his mouth, just like bean sprouts in his soba. Hence the name “Moyashi”.

Somehow, they had managed to retrieve the innocence and complete the mission. Kanda found the Moyashi sitting on a flight of steps that lead out of the city.

“Look. I have to go straight from here to another job, but I’ll be able to take you to the next station. Then you’ll go with Toma back to the Order. Alright.”

The last part wasn’t a question, more like an order to agree with what he said. Allen looked at him and nodded. The small movement ticked Kanda off. It seemed so fake, and he wouldn’t be able to get information about Cross out of a fake.

“Just get off your ass and let’s go.”

Allen jumped to his feet and followed behind Kanda, watching enchanted by the periodic sway of his ponytail. He couldn’t help but wonder what he had to do to get his hair to do that. The samurai could feel his eyes boring into him and suppressed a shudder. The intensity of the gaze was chilled Kanda to the point that he couldn’t walk in front of the kid anymore, and settled for beside.

“Is something wrong, Yuu?”

He asked when he noticed Kanda’s change in pace.

“Nothing. Just walk.”

Allen shrugged and kept going, now with a frustrated Kanda on his left side. He was somewhat sad that he couldn’t watch the hypnotizing hair anymore, but he put up with it.

Toma walked several paces behind the two, giving them their space. He laughed to himself, seeing something that he was sure neither of them could. They were both odd ones, even for the Order’s standards, but a small part of him knew that it could never mean anything good. Sighing, he decided to stay out of it, for his own safety.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the next one will be better, this chapter was more like a summary. But I hope that doesn't stop you from leaving any questions, comments, or ugly remarks!


	5. Chapter 5

**  
  
**

CHAPTER 5

“Here we are.”

Toma opened the door to the compartment and led the exorcists off the train to the town where they would leave Kanda.

“Here we will wait for Kanda’s train, and then our own.”

Allen looked at his companions. “What do you want to do while we wait?” It was Toma he was asking, but Kanda answered instead, speaking for the first time since getting on the train.

“Sit, and shut up.”

Allen looked down and adjusted his mask. It was itching a lot those days and he wondered if it had anything to do with joining the Order.

The three found a bench to sit on while they waited. Allen saw a deck of cards stick out of Toma’s pocket teasingly. He had seen him using them on the train and was reminded of the men he would watch playing poker in the circus before he met Mana.

His attention was soon grabbed by four men sitting in a circle. Three of them were laughing at the other, who was sitting there in his underwear, obviously cheated out of his clothes. Allen sighed and kept a close eye on them, watching the game unfold.

Kanda saw the attention the men were getting. He wondered if the kid had ever seen a poker game, or knew what it was. Unsure of Allen intentions, he thought that the situation could get quite sticky fast. He heard him sigh and looked at him before saying.

“You want to go and watch closer?”

The question surprised Allen, but he nodded all the same. They stood and walked towards the now three men-as the one being cheated left in only his underwear. The men looked at the fresh meat walking their way towards them. They looked bizarre, in all black with white hair and a mask, but who were they to turn down lady luck.

“You ever play poker, kid?”

One of them asked, sneering.

“I’ve seen it played and I think I understand the rules. Sure, why not.”

Kanda let out a long sigh. He knew where this was going. The kid was going to get cheated out of everything he owned-maybe even that fancy mask of his-and then Kanda would have to beat it all out of the men again. He decided he did not want to see Allen making a fool of himself. So, as Allen sat himself down in front  of the men, he slipped away to go and stalk out the train station. When Kanda turned his back from him, he smirked, looking forward to seeing the annoying brat in his underpants.

He left, passing the men. Oh yeah, they were cheating. Kanda could see it, Toma could see it, and now it was time for Allen to learn his lesson ,too.

He did not expect to return to a sight that was almost beyond his comprehension. There was a fully clothed Allen, next to a Toma whose shoulders were shaking violently. Kanda at first thought that it was crying, but he soon realized that it was laughter. And sure enough, there were the three men-three cheating men- sitting in front of Allen in nothing but briefs with little red hearts. _“Only seen it played” My ASS!_

Kanda stood shocked as Allen got up to collect his riches. He passed Kanda to return all the stuff taken from the first man and laughed to himself at Kanda’s dumbstruck face, not even aware that such an expression was possible. Toma stopped in front of Kanda, looked him in the eye and said,

“His smile…..is evil.”

Kanda, still stunned, turned to follow, when he heard the three men talking.

“I thought you were counting cards!”

“I was! We were played!”

“Played?! More like schooled! By a Poker Master!”

Kanda rejoined the others by their old bench when he saw that Toma wasn’t there. He looked at the mask boy with the unasked question.

“Toma went to go take a call from the Order. Something about our trains.”

Kanda thought back to Toma’s words as he looked at the boy. _His smile, huh. Have I ever seen him smile?_

His thoughts were interrupted by Toma as he walked toward them.

“It looks like we’ll have to spend the night here. No trains are getting in or out of the town until they fix the tracks. Something happened on one of them, we should be able to leave tomorrow, though.”

Allen nodded at the words as Kanda spoke.

“ We should get a room at an inn somewhere.”

Toma agreed, but Allen looked like he was deep in thought.

“An inn…. will... there be people there?”

Kanda thought about the question. It seemed strange until he remembered that this was Allen Walker, traumatized, scared, Moyashi, who apparently can play poker.

“Che. Yes, Moyashi. There will be people. Get over it.”

“You don’t have to be so mean, and don’t call me that! My name is Allen! What does it even mean?”

“Well, you just said it was your name..so…..”

“No! Not ‘Allen’,  ‘Moyashi’?”

“So, you admit that Moyashi is your name.”

“Shut up and find us an inn!”

Kanda appreciated the light pink that could be seen on his right cheek. The kid was too easy to mess with. He knew that Lavi would have a field day if he ever found his buttons.

***********************************************************************************************************

It did not take long for the trio to find an inn that would take them on such short notice. Also, luckily for Allen, it was for the most part, empty. They sat down and had a nice meal, as nice as a meal could get with Kanda in the room. Toma left to go and call the Order about the tracks, and to see exactly when they could get a way out of the town.

Having enough of the cheery inn scene, Kanda marched out of the establishment, also dragging along a certain moyashi. He could understand his discomfort. It had to be hard being shoved into an unfamiliar world, especially one that didn’t accept you in the first place.

They walked down the thin alleys and narrow streets. Kanda could feel eyes on the back of his neck, acutely aware that they were being followed. He decided to leave it for now, wanting to see if the Moyashi could also tell that they had unwelcomed watchers.

They came to a fork in the road and for the first time, Allen took the lead. He lead them to a wide street, the first they’ve come upon all night. They stopped when three large figures showed themselves. It was the three men that Allen had cheated. They had insanely large grins on their faces and were laughing at finally finding their prey.

_Damn Moyashi. This is what you get when you cheat grown men out of all their clothes!_ Kanda was pissed at still having to beat the crap out of the three men, when a hand was placed on his shoulder. It was Allen’s, and he was looking surprisingly serious.

“I’m glad this could wait until we got to a secluded area. I’ve been watching you since the train station, you cannot fool my eye.”

Kanda had no idea what he was talking about, but then he remembered their recent mission. Allen’s eye could see the souls of Akuma.

That was why he had played poker with them, because they were akuma. Kanda drew his sword and prepared for a fight.

Allen looked at him, but not _at_ him. He was looking through him at something else. He tackled Kanda to the ground, landing on top of him in a position he would rather no one else found out about.

With the sudden close proximity, Kanda could see Allen’s left eye. It was black with red rings around it and it was still staring in the direction Kanda had been. Knocking through the buildings, four other akuma made themselves known. Now the two exorcists had to fight seven akuma, without too much damage to the town. Not only that, but three of them were level twos.

Kanda swore and knocked Allen off of him. He noticed that Allen’s arm was also activated, and was in the form of a large canon. It was aimed at the level ones that stood behind the twos. He got the message; deal with the weaker ones first, then go for the big guys. What a simple plan when you put it like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to space out these chapters a little, and failing miserably. Just tell me if you think I'm posting too fast, if that's possible at all. And I swear, it will pick up soon. Just leave all questions, comments, and ugly remarks you might have! XD


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter of the day...Good thing, or just a thing?

**  
  
  
**

CHAPTER 6

The level ones were easy enough to deal with, or at least, the first four were. It was like they were coming out of the woodwork. Suddenly, they were surrounded. Bullets flew from all directions, and Kanda had to dodge half of the time just to evade them. He took some comfort in knowing that the moyashi was fighting as well, though not much.

There was still very little trust from the white haired boy. This was something that could get him killed on a battlefield, if a bullet didn’t get him first.

Kanda sliced open akuma, too many to count at a time. At one point, a level two joined the crowd that had formed around him and he lost sight of the other exorcist. He didn’t have time to look for him, or even to worry about him, as the level two was holding his entire attention.

The level ones seemed to know not to get too close to the fight when a higher level akuma was involved, for which Kanda was grateful. It let him focus on just the one target, until that one was dead and dust. Then the horde swarmed around him, blocking out the sky. His Hell’s Insects clawed their way through the force, making quick work of the bulk of them. It wasn’t until he finally saw the whitette again that he knew something was wrong.

He had too many wounds. He was fighting off as many as he could at once, being attacked by two of the level twos. Kanda should have seen that coming. He went to aid the kid, but was stopped by the never ending swarm. He struggled to shove his way to the kid. He had to get him out of there.

Kanda could see Allen’s movements were slowing. He wasn’t dodging as fast as he was earlier in the fight. Kanda knew that their previous mission, plus the current strain, were taking their effects on him. His heart sank, however, when he saw the massive, black bullet knick his right arm. That was all it took. Kanda jumped over to the boy, concern on his face, though most would not have known it.

He picked up the boy, startling him, and dragged him into a nearby building. It was a cowardly move, but Allen could not fight with the virus in his system.

“What the hell are you doing? Let me go!”

Allen shoved against him, struggling with the samurai’s hold.

“No way. You were shot! You have….”

He trailed off as he saw the virus spreading. It covered the boy completely, making him look a sickly dark grey, unnerving against the sharp white of his hair and mask. Kanda held his breath, expecting him to crumble into dust at any moment, but he didn’t. Instead a green light started emitting from his left arm, his weapon. the virus was being sucked out of him and into his arm, being absorbed by the innocence.

“Stop worrying so much about me. We need to get back into the fight.”

Kanda starred in amazement. Not at the feat the moyashi had just accomplished, but at his stupidity.

“No. You are not going anywhere. Any fool could tell from a mile away that you don’t trust me or anyone from the Order. If we are going to work as a team, you have to snap out of it.”

Allen was shocked at the outburst from Kanda, but he kept talking.

“You are going to stay in here and sit this one out. I’ll come back for you when it’s over.”

And with that the samurai was gone, leaving a stunned whitette behind.

Kanda rejoined the fight. As he cut and sliced akuma, he noticed that the number of Level ones started to decrease, finally. But there was still one level two left. He scanned the surrounding area for it.

Kanda found his prey a few blocks away, tormenting a family unfortunate enough to take a late night stroll. He jumped in front of the family, blocking its attacks. They didn’t need any more to tell them to leave. Once they were out of his way, he focused entirely on the level two. He looked at the strange, clown-like demon, a challenge in his eyes. By the way the akuma flew higher into the air, then came down to strike Kanda, he took that as an acceptance.

This akuma was stronger than the others, and more versatile with its attack, adapting to Kanda’s fighting style quickly. But that didn’t seem to be enough for it. It had seen where the exorcist had gone earlier, and idea came to its depraved mind.

Kanda watched in horror as the akuma took off, in the direction of the building that Kanda had left Allen. For once, he hoped that the kid had not listened to him. Within seconds the akuma was there, and the building all but demolished, anyone inside dead.

The akuma’s distraction by the ruins was enough for Kanda. With one last swing of his katana, the demon was cut in half, finally destroyed. He didn’t linger to appreciate his victory, instead focusing on the ruins of the building.

He held his breath, looking for any signs of life. Blood, piece of clothing, anything. A vague white object caught his eye. He almost refused to look at the mask. He walked towards it, getting down on one knee to investigate the accessory. It had a long scratch going down from the top right side, all the way to the bottom left. It didn’t go all the way through, yet most of the mask was covered in thick blood.

He frantically looked around for the owner of the mask. In his search, he didn’t see the horde rise up behind him, preparing to shoot. He looked around at just the right second to see dozens of grey cannons aimed at him. Bullets flew. Kanda made to leap out of the way, but his ankle was caught by a piece of debris. He felt something twist and he was pulled back down to the ground.

Now the cannons were blacked out by the bullets hurdling towards him. He braced himself for the impact with a scowl on his face, but it never came.

No. Instead he was being held bridal style out of the way of danger. Yuu Kanda was in Allen Walker’s arms. The white haired-and now unmasked-boy set Kanda down unceremoniously and turned his back to him, aiming his own cannon at the level ones.

“I never wanted to go to the order, but I did and that will never change. This doesn’t mean I like you, but I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”

Kanda only “Che’s” to the speech and stand up next to him, careful not to put pressure on his hurt ankle.

“It’s about time, you damn Moyashi.”

“My name is ALLEN!”

The two fought the remaining akuma, back to back. Neither of them needed to see the other to know what they were doing. Allen had finally conceded some trust to his long haired companion and now he was going to do the same for everyone at the Order, just as soon as they made it back.

With all of the akuma defeated, Kanda finally had a chance to see Allen’s face. He was leaning against a wall opposite to Kanda. His hair covered his face as he looked down at the mask he held in his hands.

“Hey. Moyashi.”

Kanda had said it perfectly, just enough to get him to look up. Kanda had to blink in surprise. The boy had large silver eyes. They looked much larger without the mask covering his face. Kanda could see a violent, red scar going down the left side of his face, which was only a few shades darker than his pure white hair.

At the top of the scar was an upside down pentacle. A line trailed downward over his eye to the bottom of his jaw line. It was shocking to Kanda, so much so that it showed on his face. Why would someone this pretty hide their face?  
  


Allen only saw the shock, though. Not the admiration or the wonder. He saw what he had always saw in his master the few times Cross had seen the scar; disgust. He quickly hid his face again and moved to replace the mask.

“No. Don’t”

Allen stopped, stunned.

“Don’t…..don’t you think it’s ugly?”

Allen’s bowed head hid his face better than the mask could, but Kanda could still imagine the hurt look he must of had.

“Why would I? It’s you face. That’s it.”

The reply made Allen look up. Sure enough he saw the indifference that was characteristic of Kanda. But he did not expect to see the non judgemental stare he was given. Didn’t he see the hideous scar? Didn’t he see all the error of his features? How could he just sit there and look at him without cringing or cursing him?

“Just....my..face?”

“Yeah. That thing above your neck.”

“And...you don’t...hate me?”

He scoffed at the question, making the boy flinch.

“Why would I hate a moyashi like you?”

The question instilled hope in the desperate teen. He gathered up the courage to ask the question that he’s been thinking about.

“What does ‘Moyashi’ mean?”

Kanda looked at the wounded boy. His arm was bleeding heavily where he was hit. That must have been where the blood came from on the mask.

“At first I thought it meant ‘Freak’ or something, like the things that the villagers used to call me….but if that’s true than…..”

He never finished, he let it trail off into nothingness.

“Che. Only a puny kid like you could think it meant that.”

Allen looked at him in amazement.

“Then what the hell does it mean!”

 **  
**Kanda saw the emotion in his eyes. They weren’t pleasant emotions, but they were true, and they were trusting. Now he could start getting information out of him and complete his true mission.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Here is the next chap. I can almost guarantee that the next one will be next wed, mainly because I am 'bout to go out of town, where there is no wifi. So Yay! for me. More time to work on this. Anyways, I wont talk much. Just let you read! XD

Chapter 7

Kanda and Allen limp back to the hotel with the assistance of Toma. All three were exhausted from the fight with the Akuma that had occurred in the streets.

“Master Lavi and Miss Lee will be joining us here at the hotel in the morning. Until then we are to be prepared for any other Akuma, may they attack.“ Toma informed them as he left the room, leaving the two exorcists on their own.

“So, what is going to happen when Lavi and Lenalee get here?”

The young boy looked at the older, once again removing his mask once Toma had left. Kanda Che’d at the useless action, but ignored the boy’s question, simply falling into bed, quickly succumbing to sleep.

Allen, however, did not sleep as soundly. He had no idea what to expect with the arrival of his ‘companions’. He did trust them more than anyone in the Order, other than Kanda, but it was a weak relationship. He doubted he would ever have as good a relationship with anyone as the one he had with Mana. But he hoped they wouldn’t be as bad as the one he had with Cross.

That morning, he was woken from his restless slumber by a calm and cool hand. He started at first: half expecting it to be Cross, waking him up with a typical punch to the gut. He calmed after he realized that a blow was not coming at all.

“Prepare yourself. The rabbit will be here soon.”

The samurai’s stoic words took a second to sink into his early-morning brain. Unfortunately, they took too long. Before he had a chance to react, a strange redheaded figure followed by a calmer forest green head came striding into the room.

Lenalee almost gasped when she saw the boy. He was in bad shape, but so was Kanda. It was the fact that he had no mask. She couldn’t see his face, but she did notice the mask on the table. Soon after he saw them, however, he made a quick reach for it. His move to put it on before they saw him made her uncertain, especially since Kanda had already seen his face.

The aforementioned Kanda was not pleased with the action, either. Startling all in the room, he quickly snatched the mask from the boys hand, eliciting a small squeak of surprise. He moved quickly, snapping the mask in two along the already formed scratch.

His audience was dumbfounded; Allen included. He threw the two halves down in Allen’s lap while the younger just stared at the porcelain. There was no way that it was ever going on his face again, and they all knew it.

“If you trust me enough to show me your face, then you can trust them enough too.”

Kanda simply crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if he didn’t do anything wrong. But what he did, however true, was cruel; and Lenalee would tell him so, if she wasn’t too busy gaping at the positively angelic face.

Allen was not oblivious to the gazes. He hid his face under his covers and as Lenalee and Lavi recovered enough to scold the culprit.

“Kanda! You had no right to do that!”

“Yeah, Yuu. That might have gone a bit too far.”

“Don’t call me that! Baka Usagi!”

Hearing the other’s cry made him remember something. Only he was allowed to call him Yuu. It filled the boy with a sense of joy, and guilt. What had he done for Yuu to grant him such a courtesy?

Gathering himself, he lowered the blanket.

“It’s fine. He’s right.”

They looked at him, yet again taken aback by his beauty. His dark red scar accented his pale skin and chrome eyes; all of it gently hugged by his soft white hair. Lenalee felt the sudden urge to hug the boy, but didn’t know if that would be appropriate.

Kanda released another Che, before stalking out of the room. It was about damn time that kid took off the ridiculous accessory. So why was he so mad at the others’ reactions?

“Well it seems the great Yuu has left us.”

Allen looked at Lavi, feeling the need to correct him on the use of his name. Before he could, the redhead continued.

“We should get going soon. Lenalady and I are to escort you back to the Order. It is our home after all.”

Home. Such a fickle place.

Lenalee grinned at the friend and giggled. “Yuu? Don’t you mean ‘Kanda’? After all, Allen is the only one allowed to call him by his first name.”

Allen would have thanked her for correcting the rabbit, but he felt that there was some underlying message he was missing. Something which the redhead did not. His resulting grin was....frightening

The entire trip was full of similar grins. There were many long glances in Allen’s direction, soaking up every feature on his face. Allen knew that Kanda had said that there was nothing wrong with how he looked, but he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. Years of living with Cross rose his insecurity to unbelievable levels.

Lavi and Lenalee weren’t the only ones surprised by his sudden reveal. Every Finder he passed gaped at him, and if it weren’t for his hair, Jerry would have mistaken him for another new guy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ignore the looks forever.

“Lavi…”

The whitette hesitantly took hold of the other’s shoulder as they walked down a hallway. It was his fourth conscious day at the Order and the looks from the others at his ‘home’ continued.

“Is…. there something wrong with my face?”

Lavi just looked at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

“I mean. Is there a reason everyone keeps staring at me?”

“Ohhhh...:”

The redhead released the long syllable, then stopped to think about his response. The short pause made Allen even more anxious for the answer.

“No. I mean, obviously you had a reason for hiding your face all that time, but no one really thought it would be to discourage the proposals. So, you're not really what we expected.”

His calm reply startled Allen, not understanding what he said.

“Proposals? What proposals?”

“Well,…and don’t take this the wrong way, but..”

The words Allen were expecting sounded in his head. He had heard them all before. Hideous. Monster. Demon. Waist of life.But Lavi said none of these.

“...dude, you’re hot.”

“I’m...wait, what?”

He couldn’t even register the word. He looked up and down his vocabulary and found nothing. Nothing that would match the situation.

“Well, yeah. If I wasn’t straight, I would so be gay for you.”

“I’m not sure I know what any of that means.”

“Oh.Dude. That is not a conversation I EVER want to have. Like really.”

Allen was more lost than ever. Why was Lavi so scared to explain to him the situation? And then realization struck him.

“No. No, no, no. Not like THAT. But, I mean...why would I get proposals? I’m not exactly good-looking.”

Lavi looked surprise-and a little relieved at not having to explain sexuality.

“Why did you wear the mask, anyways?”

Allen’s face grew darker. A small, sad smile appeared, creating a pitiful image.

“Master Cross made it for me in the first few months I was with him. He refused to look at me and told me to always wear the mask. He told me that my curse was hideous and that he would leave me for dead if I didn’t wear it.”

Lavi stop. He hoped he had heard him wrong. How could a general of the Order say that to a little boy? No wonder Allen always wore the mask.

“Well, how did you get it in the first place? If you don’t mind me asking.”  
  


Allen was close to tears, but he decided to tell Lavi and get the questions over with.

“The man I called my father cursed me, when I was younger. He left me with Master, but not before giving me this eye.”

Lavi looked at him in a new light. “Well. This guy sounds like a complete bastard. Who curses their own children and then ditches them with an ass like Cross?”

Allen jerked his head up at the words; a new emotion in his eyes.

“You’re wrong! Mana had every right to curse me! I’m hideous and disgusting and should never have been born! I just wish you would quit mocking me!”

“Allen! Wait!”

But he didn’t. Allen stormed off, down the halls he’d only known for a few days. His tears ran freely. Lavi’s words hurt Allen, who, after all this time, was still grieving for his only father figure. And so he ran. He ran until he could no longer hear Lavi call out to him. He twisted and turned and possibly even went down a flight of stairs. He had to get away. He had to go somewhere that he could forget where he was.

He found a dark hole and crouched down. He slammed his eyes shut and clenched his hands in concentration. He envisioned his flowers; Cross’s flowers. The bright woods covered in snow, Timcampy comfortably on his head. It was a beautiful picture.

He slowly relaxed his hands and brought one of the gloved appendages up to his face. He had done so with the intent of fixing the mask he had worn almost every day of his life for the past four years. It stopped flat against the left side of his face, no cold porcelain to greet it.

His mouth formed some sort of sick smile. It had become such a habit to fix the mask and to stop it falling off. He knew that one day it would stop fitting all together, and he would need to get another one made. Maybe that was what Cross had in mind. Maybe Cross made the mask, knowing that when it outgrew Allen’s face -which hasn’t changed much in the past four years- he would be at the Order, and would need Cross in order to get a new one, forcing Allen to show himself and trust his fellow exorcists. Nah. Cross’s an ass and that was all there was to it.

If Cross could see Allen right there, he would knee him in the gut and tell him to go grow a pair. He would tell him to save his tears for when someone died right in front of him, instead of years in the past. For some reason, imagining the cruel things Cross would have said made him feel slightly better, though he hated to admit that any words of Cross’s could do that.

Lavi had no way of knowing the circumstances of Mana’s death, and therefore had no idea of the gravity of what Lavi said. He didn’t know how much of a lost cause Allen was. He didn’t know how much of a monster he was.

“Perhaps I should go and accept Lavi’s apology.”

**************************************************

“LenaLady! LenaLady!”

Lavi gripped the girl by both shoulders, panting and struggling to speak.

“I really messed up.”

“Why? What did you do?”

He had found the girl with her brother in his office half an hour after the event occurred. Worry overrode the motherly scolding she was about to give about messing with Komui’s old experiments.

“Has it something to do with Allen? Is he alright?”

After finally getting his breath, he told her what happened.

“I think I might have insulted his father. It looked like it really pissed him off. He ran off in tears and I can’t find him. He is seriously pissed at me.”

“Lavi! He could be anywhere. We have to set up search teams!”

Komui, Lavi, and Lenalee set up teams of two to look for Allen. With all the dangerous machinery in the Order, he had to be found fast.  

They scoured the Order, looking up and down for the lost boy. Three hours passed and the search force had doubled, yet still no sign of Allen. Lavi cursed himself for upsetting the boy to the point of running off.

“Damn it! Damn it all to Hell!”

“Lavi! It’s not your fault. You had no way of knowing that he would run off like that.”

“I know, but still. He was just starting to trust us. If we lose this lead…”

The statement was never finished, but Lenalee looked at her friend with concern.

“Is that all he is to you? A lead?”

“No. Of course not. But, we NEED Cross.”

“And we don’t need Allen?”

“Of course we need every exorcist we can get, but Cross is the strongest general, and is the only person alive that knows about…”

Lavi immediately stopped himself mid sentence. Lena looked at him with suspicion. Not being a Bookman; she had no idea what he was talking about, which worried her to no end. She stopped her internal investigation of the juicy morsels Lavi had let loose by the sound of her name from somewhere down the hall.

“Miss Lenalee! Lavi! Hello?”

“ALLEN!”

The two ran up to the object of their attention. Lavi could see faint tear stains, but the boy seemed to be in almost good spirits.

“Oh God! Al, I am so sorry. I had no-”

“-idea. Yeah. I should be the one apologizing. It was wrong of me to just run out. I’ve already completely forgot about it.”

Lenalee smiled at the two. She had never seen Allen so cheerful, it filled her with joy. Maybe he was finally opening up to them.

“Are you sure, Al?”

“Yeah. About two and a half hours ago.”

“Really? Then where were you all that time?”

“Uh…”

He gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his hair with his right gloved hand.

“I got lost.”

The two laughed at the boy, and after a moment of staring, he joined them. Soon, though, they were interrupted by a dark figure.

**************************************

Kanda stepped out of the boat and began walking towards Hevlaska, leaving his Finder behind. He had already forgotten the girl’s face thirty seconds after turning his back. The entire mission had been long and boring and he just wanted to get to Hevlaska and then lock himself in his room to meditate.

He glared at every Finder he saw on his way back from the large insectile woman. He was surprised to see so many scientists and Finders out of their positions, just wondering around the Order as if they didn’t have jobs.

Along the way he found Toma, the only Finder he could tolerate. Using as little words as possible, he asked what was going on. The Finder told him that everyone was looking around for someone.

“Who?”

“Master Allen Walker. “

Kanda looked at him. He demanded no answer, but instead turned down a random hallway which seemed to have no one down it. The Moyashi had gotten himself lost. He was so weak, how is he going to keep himself safe on his own in the field if he couldn’t in his own headquarters? Kanda stopped right there in the hallway. Why was he so worried about the Moyashi? Why was he so pissed when Lenalee and that rabbit started drooling all over him? Why did he worry so much when he couldn’t find him in that house? Why was this single kid getting to him so much?  
  


A ringing laughter drowned out all his thoughts. Looking at the source, he had to stop himself from going pale. He turned his back and stalked back the way he came. Fuck his room. He had to train.

“Hey! Yuu. When did you get back?”

He almost stopped himself to look back at the white haired boy who had called out to him. Almost. But he couldn’t stand it. The sight of him standing there, between Lavi and Lenalee, with that smile on his face. That fake smile, so forced it hurt to look at. No. He would keep walking and ignore the painful grin. And he probably wouldn’t sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, questions, comments, ugly remarks are welcome. Please tell me some of what you want to see in the next few chapters and I'll try to fit it in. I aim to please!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its late! But its what I got for ya! Enjoy!

Chapter 8. 

A loud grumbling roar interrupted the companionable silence. The now irate man looked at the younger as an irresistibly cute pink flush spread on his face.

"Sorry, Yuu. I'm hungry."

"Che. Then get some food, or do you need me to hold your hand to the cafeteria."

"Shut up. I get lost easily, not my fault."

"Yes. It is, Moyashi."

"My name is Allen..."

Allen huffed and refused to look at the man.

"....BaKanda."

Kanda stopped at looked at the teen, surprised at the cultural reference. 

"What?"

"You heard me. If I'm a Moyashi, then your a Bakanda."

"Che. Baka Moyashi. That damn Usagi told you that, didn't he?"

Allen ignored the request-informing Kanda that he was correct-, instead walking to the only place he knew how to get to; the cafeteria. Kanda simply took the cue and chose silence over the constant arguing. A part of him did want to tease the boy. To see the pink on his face, a result of the frustration. It furiated him, but he enjoyed seeing Allen show true emotion, instead of the new mask he had adopted. It wasn't made out of porcelain, but it was there. It killed him to see him smiling with Lavi and Lenalee, but the shadow was still haunting his features. What pissed Kanda off even more was the urge to see him smile, truly smile. And the fact that no matter what he did, he could not make the kid smile, even a fake one.

Kanda wasn't the only one who felt that way. Allen wanted the perpetually annoyed man to smile, even just slightly. He knew it wasn't right, when he himself had to force the grins to show. But smiling hurt. Mana always had a smile, even when Allen would fuss and whine. There was always a grin waiting for him, and soon, he could return the favor. But after the event, Allen couldn't remember the last time he had truly smiled. And Kanda reminded him of himself when Mana first found him as a kid. Grumpy, uncooperative, unsociable. Alone.

Allen and Kanda soon arrived at the large hall and made their way to the line. The flamboyant man behind the window leaned on the sill at the sight and smiled widely.

"Hey, You Cutie Patootie! Whatchya want to eat!"

Allen looked at the man nervously, trying to decide the long list of foods that he would devour.

"Che. Just get something Moyashi."

Pulling everyone out of their thoughts, Jerry looked at Kanda in confusion.

"Do you usually get beansprouts in your soba?"

Allen looked at the man. It took a second, but it soon dawned on him what was said.

"Wait! THAT's what that means!?"

Kanda had to stop himself from bursting out in laughter. Well, not that drastic, but he did almost smirk. He simply Che'd coldly and walked away, a tray of precious soba in his hands. He sat himself at a far table, away from the other exorcists. It shocked him when a few minutes later, he was joined by the white haired boy. Though, he didn't know why it did, Allen seemed to follow him everywhere.

And sure enough, not five minutes after sitting down, they were joined by two other exorcists, who Kanda would rather avoid.

"Hey there, Al. What's going on?"

"Hey, Allen."

The mentioned boy looked at Lavi and Lenalee as they approached the table, and sat with their own trays of food. 

"Got enough food, kid?"

Lavi couldn't help but gape at the cart of food Allen had ordered from Jerry. There was food from what looked like every country in both Europe and Asia; though mainly a surplus of Mitarashi Dango. Lavi looked as if he was about to reach over and remove a dish from the stack, before Allen quickly slapped his hand away, a warning clear on his face.

"Don't be so stingy, Al."

"I'm not. I'm being hungry."

"Oww. Al. You wound me."

"Che. Obviously not enough. What are you doing here, Usagi?"

They all looked at Kanda, who doing the transaction had gotten increasingly irritated. 

"Come on, Yu-I mean Kanda. We just wanna eat with ya."

Kanda looked at the redhead quizzically. He had stopped himself from calling Kanda by his first name: something he thought the rabbit would never do. 

"No. We're here to take you to brother. He has some assignments for you."

Kanda looked at Allen, and then back to Lenalee. Allen nodded to her, but Kanda just let the silence be his answer. 

20 minutes later, the four of them were sitting in the office, spread around the cluttered room. Kanda and Lavi sat at opposite ends of the couch, Allen separating the two. While Lenalee stood behind her brother, holding her ever potent clipboard.

"You may not have heard, but Lavi and my sweet Lena were on a mission while you and Kanda were being attacked. It was a mission to find innocence. It seems that there was an accommodator there, but an outside force got there first and stopped them."

"An outside force? The Earl? Could he have sent Akuma?"

Allen looked at Komui for his answers, but it was Lavi who spoke.

"We believe it was the Clan of Noah. They are a family of advanced humans that assists the Earl. "

"Wait. They're human? How can they help the Earl?"

"We're not sure. Very little is known about them, but they do crop up in history during most major events. Some say that they are immortal. And if anything can kill them, its Innocence. But they haven't been very active the past couple of decades, until just recently. This is a major cause of concern for us. It means the Earl is preparing to make a move soon."

All eyes returned to Komui as he looked at the file in front of him, an unusual err of urgency in his voice.

"There was only one person reported missing from the town were the Innocence was located: Miranda Lotto. As well as continuing with your missions, we ask that you keep an eye and ear out for any news on her. We believe that her Innocence could be very useful to the Order. "

He flipped a page and Lenalee handed him a slip of paper.

"The Noah has left us a message, one that concerns us and the generals. They are looking for the Heart of Innocence."

He paused here, for some dramatic effect that only the sister complex could think was a good idea. 

"The heart of Innocence is believed to be the only substance that can create new pieces and is the source of power for all Innocence. We believe that the reason the Earl and Noah want this is that if the heart is destroyed, then so is every other piece of Innocence. "

"... And we believe that the Generals would be the best candidates for the Heart."

Kanda finished for the chinese man. For a moment, there was silence in the room, until Komui returned to his usual cheery self. 

"And so we are separating you into teams to search for the Generals. I want Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee to search for Cross. Kanda will join the Teidoll's group. I'm sending Allen and Lavi on a mission now to a castle in Romania, but Lenalee has something else to take care of."

From that point on, Allen continuously got paler and paler. 

*********************************************************************************************************

Allen got off the train and stepped onto the platform. He waited to see people and sighed, relieved when none appeared. Once leaving the Order, Lavi had told Allen that he would have to split up for a while. Allen was not pleased with having to handle the train ride alone, nor with the initial greeting at the town. 

He was exhausted from worrying during the entire train ride. Everything from the people when he got off, to his master, to the inn, to what would happen if a boulder suddenly came out of nowhere and smashed the train in half. Typical nerves of a recluse. 

As it was, there was only a single man waiting for him when he got off of the train. He seemed to match the rest of the town in the way that he was dark and -for lack of better term- creepy. Allen could barely see his tiny eyes and the only color he wore was his scarf. But there he stood, short and dark, selling his wares in some kind of food cart. Allen eyed the vendor closely, trying to decide just how hungry he was. He decided that he was always hungry, and information can be found anywhere.

He drew in a deep breath and gathered his strength. He put on his metaphorical mask; the one he wore around Lavi and Lenalee. He was going to go to the man, smile, and ask him about the recent happenings. It wasn't as if there was anyone else near him, or in sight for that matter. 

"Hello there." 

Allen walked to the an and drew his attention. He hoped that he sounded charming and gentleman-esk. But both were faces he never had an occasion to use, so he he could have looked like a complete stalker for all he knew.

"Hello, young man. What brings you to this town?"

Allen smiled and reached inside his exorcist pocket to pull out a picture.

"Well, you see. I'm looking for someone..."

He was cut off as the man's eyes widened and he stared at Allen as if he had just grown three heads and a beard. He stuttered something before running off towards town. It shocked Allen: was his face really that bad?

"Um, sir. You forgot your cart."

Though no one was around to hear him. 

Soon a loud rumbling made itself known from the direction the man had ran into. Allen's heart sank and his throat clenched as he saw a massive heard of people running towards him. Too many people. They were nearing and claustrophobia took over. He looked around for a direction he could run in and found none. Suddenly, they lifted him up and started carrying him somewhere. He shouted to be put down, but despite his struggles none listened. 

The next thing he knew, he was in some room, tied to a chair. His face was pale and a cold sweat covered him. It reminded him too much of the other villages he had been in, though this usually happened after they found out about his arm, not before. 

'These are not the same villagers. These are not the same villagers. I am here to help them, and find Master Cross. I am an exorcist, I will not go through this again.'

He kept telling himself the words, but panic overrode logic. Images of his past flashed before him. Townspeople surrounding him, angry and armed. Torches lit and shoved in his face, warding off any demons that may have been attached to him. He felt his mask slipping. All appearances of being a sociable, functioning exorcist slowly fading, replacing themselves with a panicked animal instinct that came with living with no one but a hellish monster of a Master. 

It didn't occur to Allen that if he simply looked up, he would see ,not the angry mob of his past, but a group of concerned villagers. He would be able to see that the torches they held were not thrust upon him as weapons, but held simply for lighting. If he looked up, he would be able to read their faces to know that whatever they were afraid of, was outside the room, not in it tied to a chair. But he didn't look up, not until the man he had seen earlier started shaking his shoulders. 

"Young man. Forgive the hasty collection, but we must speak with you. You are our savior."

The words rang in his ears, unable to comprehend them. He listened as the man told his story. That of the vampire Arystar Krory the III. Allen couldn't decide if he was frustrated or relieved when the man said that Cross had gone. He knew his master was important to the Order, but he wanted to avoid meeting him for as long as possible. 

"So, monk, will you help us?"

Allen's breath came heavily as he tried to regain his courage, memories o his past still haunting him.

"Just...don't do that again. Okay?"

The villagers showed their relief and appreciation by giving Allen a place to stay the night, as well as saving room for Lai for when he finally arrived. 

He talked with the villagers, the ones he could handle anyway. He shied away from the Mayor-the man with the cart, as he later found out. Allen Walker was not one to appreciate being picked up and kidnapped to a strange place by strange people. 

But as the day wound down, and he settled in for the night, his thoughts kept straying to Arystar Krory and his Master Cross. What was his master's connection with the man? Did he do the same thing to him that he did with Allen: find a poor soul in need of guidance, fix them up, then break them again and leave them on their own to be hated? How many others had Cross done this to?  
*************************************************  
A tall man with bi-colored hair stood in front of the window, looking at the town below. A beautiful blond woman walked up to him and intertwined herself into his arms. Together they looked down below as a train stopped by the town.

"It seems there is a visitor."

"It must be a mistake. No one ever comes to that town."

"I hope you are right, my dear Eliade."

"Don't worry, Arystar. We will live alone in this castle forever. I will never let anyone come between us, my love."

'How sweet. Young love.'

The blond woman was broken from her trance at the sound of the voice, which the tall man obviously did not hear.

"What is the matter, my dear Eliade?"

He was worried with the way she was acting. Eliade collected herself and returned to her lover.

"Nothing, my love."

She hoped the lie would satisfy him. She could not think of what would happen if her fears about the voice she had heard were true. No. It cannot be HER. I will not let her separate me from my Arystar.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooooooooo sorry about the EXTREMELY late update. But here is this one. I honestly don't like these chapters and will try and get through them, just for you, but hopefully you'll enjoy them!

Chapter 9

Allen left the village the next night with a horde of townsmen behind him. They gave him his distance, 'courageously' letting him go first. Allen didn't want to believe that there were real vampires, but he also knew that there were strange and dangerous things in the world, and that just about anything is possible when Innocence or the Earl is involved. The entire trek was filled of the villagers telling him horror stories of the Count and his head twitching near the glove, resisting the urge to rip it off. 

It wasn't just the idea that there was a vampire near by that made him want to activate. His left eye kept twitching furiously and the continuous feeling that he was being watched made him shudder. There was someone else out there in those woods, but he couldn't see them. He knew they had to be Akuma, since his eye was so irritated. He wished it was just Lavi, wanting to jump out and scare him, but he knew better than to get his hopes up.

They soon reached a small clearing in front of a large gate that towered over them. 

"This is as far as we can take you monk. These are the gates to Arystar Krory's castle. You must make the rest of the trip on your own. But we shall wait with you for your fellow monk to arrive."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Before Allen could further investigate their surroundings, a blur passed before his vision. Suddenly, there was a strange cloaked man with two different colored hair crouched over another man. Allen immediately recognized the second as an Akuma, his eye whirring into action. The two red rings appeared and the white of his eye turned black. Attached to the back of the townsperson was the soul of a howling akuma, begging to be freed. 

The entire mob gasped as they recognized Count Arystar Krory III. He had long white fangs deep into the neck of the villager. The other townsfolk seemed mere seconds away from attacking him, before he took off, taking the villager with him. 

"He took Frans!"

He heard one of the men behind him scream, though he was too busy focusing on Krory. He didn't have the soul of an Akuma, so what was he? An Accommodator? Before he could act on his suspicions, the ‘vampire’ fled, taking the akuma with him, assumingly deep into the castle. 

"HEY! Al!"

He looked up at the sound of his nickname. He saw the redheaded Lavi approach him through the trees, grabbing the townspeople's' attentions. 

"It is the other monk, come to help slay the vampire."

The mayor said it in such a matter of fact way that Lavi had to do a double take. He looked around a the large crowd that seemed to follow Allen. 

"Wait, the second what? Come to what?"

Allen sighed and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. 

"I'll tell you about it later. But first, where were you?"

The rabbit grinned and scratched the back of his head with one hand.

"Ooh, stuff, for the old Panda."

Allen nodded as if he knew what he was talking about, but really had no idea. Weren't panda's in China?

"Anyway, what's this about a vampire?"

Allen explained the happenings of the past two days, leaving out the parts about him getting kidnapped and tied up to a chair. They split from the villagers, telling them that they have it under control and will take care of it from there. Allen begins to relax for the first time in days as he sees them back away towards the town. Now the worst thing he had to deal with was a vampire, and that he felt like he could handle.

************************************************************************************************  
The man shook the shoulders of his prey in hopes of arousing him. Nothing worked. He cried for the man to not be dead, sounding more like a wounded infant than a deadly monster. His beautiful blond lover strode towards him sat comfortingly besides him. 

"The man is already dead, Arystar. There is nothing you can do for him."

"Oh, Eliade. I have done it again. I have become a monster. The townspeople have even organized a mob to come and kill me!"

The woman gazed at her weeping lover. She hated the villagers for what they did to her Arystar. But she hated the exorcists even more for trying to take him away from her. If they ever made it to the castle alive, then they would realize what he is, and try to take him. But they weren't her only concerns. They were being hunted from both sides, and she wasn't sure what to do about it.

******************************************************************************************************

"So we have to find this Count Arystar Krory guy? And he has something to do with the General?"

Allen looked at Lavi and thought about the questions.

"Maybe. But I don't think he's a vampire. Or even an Akuma."

"Oh? How so?"

Allen smiled, remembering the last time he talked about his cursed eye with Lavi. 

"My eye can see the souls of Akuma. He didn't have one. The man he took with him did though."

Lavi looked at Allen again. He had heard about his eye, just not from the kid. It furthered the mystery around him, the one that Lavi's inner bookman longed to discover. He looked at Allen like he would a book. A book written in a foreign language that no one could read, no one but him, that is.

"So, you think this guy might be an accommodator?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe's not good enough. We'll keep going and see what we find."

They let the conversation die down as they reached a large castle. The huge stone walls resembled the gate from before and the two friends stopped to inspect the piece of art that was the architecture. 

"Hey, Allen. Have you heard of this?"

Allen looked at his companion as he thought of what he was going to say.

"If you get bit by a vampire, you'll turn into one."

"Yeah, actually, I have heard of that."

"Well, just so you know, if you get bit, our friendship is so over."

"That goes both ways, Lavi. Both ways."

Lavi smirked at his friend's reply and turned himself to the grand opening. He made to open the door, but was stopped by a gloved hand. He looked at the white haired boy. He looked almost afraid. Lavi questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

"Lavi. Do you smell that."

He lifted his nose in the air, like a dog's, and sniffed.

"Yeah.It's...sweet. And familiar. But where from?"

"Cross's flowers. The ones he left me. They were all in that forest."

Lavi remembered what he was talking about and kicked himself for not getting it sooner. An image of the strange man eating plants came to mind and he shuddered, not wanting to go through that again. Allen seemed to share his sentiment, but only for a second. They gathered their strength and resolved themselves to go ahead and get it over with.

The two pushed on the large doors and entered the castle. They walked down the large hall, careful not to disturb the stones. Aparently they weren't careful enough. Because no one else can sneeze as loudly as Lavi can.

Within seconds large leafy plants surrounded them, the sickly sweet odor making the two nauseas. They wrapped their vines around the exorcists and barred their razor sharp teeth. 

"These are a lot bigger than yours!"

Lavi struggled to reach for his hammer, but had no luck. 

"Lavi! There's a way around them!" 

"Really! I'd love to know!"

He watched as Allen was pulled away, busy trying to fend off his own flowers. Lavi lost sight of him, but knew that he was still fine, from the way it sounded. 

He pressed his hands against the flower that was currently trying to devour them. He heard Allen's reply from somewhere behind him, but could not hear the white haired boy a amidst the flora.

"What?!"

"I said 'You have to love them!"

Lavi was stumped. 'Love them'?!

"Show them affection! Make them believe you won't hurt them! Think of them as puppies!"

Lavi scoffed, trying to picture the venus-flytrap like plant with dog ears and a tail. But as he heard his friend showing affection to the flowers, and succeeding in escaping their grasp, he hiked up his pride and kissed it goodbye.

"I LOVE YOU!"

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

Eventually, all the plants were yet again settled down, with a few every now and then snapping at Lavi's head. Allen's eye activated to an unseen akuma. Lavi saw this and begun searching around the room for anywhere one might hide. Their antics were interrupted, however, by a smooth female voice.

"Oh my. What have you done?"

Lavi looked up at the speaker, who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The whole world seemed to melt around them, there was nothing but this exquisite person, this exquisite female person.

"She's...She's...."

Lavi stutterd, leaning towards the blond woman. Allen couldn't pick where to look; the Akuma woman with suspicion, or his friend with concern. 

"Lavi?"

"She's....JUST MY TYPE!"

And...they lost him.

It did not take long for either Allen or the woman to figure out what Lavi was thinking. 

"Oh. I feel the gaze of a lustrous man. Tell me, would you like to be my lover?"

It was at that time that Lavi started to nod his head, very much resembling that of a dog's. It was much too easy for Eliade to string this boy along. She would never sleep with anyone other than her Arystar, of course, but she would play with this strange exorcist boy before killing him. 

An annoyed Allen stomped towards his friend and gave him a heavy whack on his head. With the rabbit out of the 'spell', he turned his attention to the woman. 

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

She stood up straight and took on an air of seriousness.

"I am Eliade. Count Arystar Krory's assistant. And you two are exorcists."

"But you are an Akuma?"

The woman stiffened at being found out. She did not like that this boy knew, while all others had been fooled. It seemed like they really did want to take her Arystar away from her. They wanted to take away their happiness. This she would not allow.

"Oh. A clever boy, I see. Well, I can't say you'll stay that way for long."

Without preamble, the woman, Eliade, attacked the two. Or , at least, they assumed it was an attack. Strange bubbles began to float around the room, some speeding directly towards them, others just hovering. Not knowing what the strange orbs were, the two exorcists dodged them as best they could. It was fortunate they did this, because very soon, one of the bulbs had landed on the head of a flower, instantly turning the plant to dust. The boys were horrified as the orb filled with what looked like a liquid.

More spheres landed on various parts of the strange flowers, quickly decreasing the number of the carnivorous plants.

Eliade was quickly becoming infuriated with her failed attempts to kill the exorcists. The spheres began appearing more rapidly than before and were no longer randomly flying around the room, but seeking out the two black-coat wearing teens. 

"Dear Eliade?"

All attention was held by the tall man that appeared the same way the Akuma had. Allen recognized him as the Count Arystar Krory. 

"What is going on? What has happened to my grandfather's flowers?"

The man seemed distraught by the state that his garden was in and looked cautiously at Eliade. The latter's demor quickly changed from one who was just attempting to murder Allen and Lavi, to that of a disheveled and distraught woman, clutching to her lover's side.

"Oh! Ayrstar! These men! They came into the castle and just started to destroy your plants! I tried to stop them, but I feared for my life! They want to take you away, my love! They want to kill you!"

It looked like the woman Akuma Eliade was going to swoon over her lover's flowers. It was very convincing, the lie she told him. The vampire became enraged at the story, his fury pointed towards the two intruders. 

"How dare you?!"

His face took on a demonic appearance, fangs protruding as he curled his lips back. Still with the blood from before in his veins, he attacked the two men. He was quicker than before, when Allen had seen him, and took him by surprise. He defended with his large, grey-silver arm, trying to stop the vampire from succeeding in his attempts to finish off the exorcists. 

"Listen! We are not your enemies!"

He tried to reason with the man, but he quickly brushed off the attempts.

"Well you are most definitely not my friends! You barge into MY home! Attack MY Eliade! And destroy MY garden! If you are not enemies, then you are nothing!"

Lavi tried to join in with the attempts, still trying to dodge the spheres as he lifted his hammer in the air. 

"That woman..."

He brought down the hammer with as much strength as he could manage, on top of the vampire.

"She's an akuma!"

Krory stopped the attack and quickly dodged out of the way as Lavi's hammer created a large dent in the floor. 

"And now insults! If she is a demon, than you two are far worse!"

The two exorcists converged, coming at him both at once. Allen cornered the man using his gun evolution. Lavi again brought his hammer up, increasing the size, and brought it down, this time hitting the mark. Or, so it seemed. Krory held the tip of the hammer between his teeth, making Lavi pale at the sight.

"How is that possible? The jaws this guy must have?!"

Allen saw the situation going nowhere, fast. Eliade the Akuma was still watching the situation unfold, not able to join in and risk exposure. She held some sort of emotional tie to the man that was not characteristic of most Akuma. Even for level twos, that kind of behavior was odd, more human. One could really almost ignore her being an akuma, if it weren't for the large weeping soul he saw coming from her back, begging to be saved from the hell it endured. Allen swore that he would do her the kindness of setting her soul free; not just for her, but for Krory, too. If he could only get the man to understand the situation. 

"Krory! You and I, we're the same! Just listen to us!"

The elder man laughed coldly, his fangs growing even longer as the innocence he wasn't aware of activated fully.

"Yes! We are both monsters!"

All conversation ceased. They had to focus too much on fighting. The orbs were less now, not being used to their full capabilities in fear of also hitting Krory. Allen swung his massive claw, capturing the man in a tight grip. He bit down, hard, on the hand, drawing blood. Allen heard Lavi swear from somewhere, but his attention was on the vampire. It wasn't long after Krory had bit him that he released him, sputtering.

"What?! What are you!"

Krory shouted at Allen, who was stunned. Krory rushed to a nearby fountain and dunked his head in, drinking the water generously.

"That was disgusting! You must be a worse monster than I thought!"

Allen understood what had happened. He brought his arm closer to him, not deactivated, but not as large as it could be. 

"It is because I am not an akuma. I am human. And so are you. You are an accommodator. All those villagers that you have killed before were akuma, just like Eliade."

"You have no proof! You have no idea what I am!"

The man was angry, and more than just a little frustrated. Who were these people to speak of matters they didn't know? They didn't understand his situation. They didn't know what it felt like to be abandoned and left alone. Eliade was the only one who understood his pain. She was all he had in this world. And he would kill these two to protect her.

" I am human, am I? You are human? I do not believe either."

The man said it so matter of factly, it startled the exorcists. The three prepared to begin anew, when a chillingly cold voice echoed through the halls.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise! Three accommodators! How fun!"

And with that, Road Camelot made her stunning appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it! The next update should come a lot sooner than this one did, and hopefully I'll be able to get onto a normal schedule, though no promises. I can tell you, though, that my sister, and amazing beta reader, has threatened to disown me if I stop this fic, so that won't be happening any time soon! As always, I love comments, and I'm sorry if I haven't' replied to many of them. I do read them, though, and I'll try and get better with my updating habits!

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! I hoped you liked it! Please R&R and leave any questions, comments, or ugly remarks.


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